IBDP
Extended Essay Cafe
An Extended Essay Cafe is an opportunity for students to formally present their Extended Essay
research findings.
Running an EE Cafe is an excellent way for a school’s coordinators and supervisors to ensure
that all students submitting an Extended Essay have made suitable progress with regards to the
research (and any initial writing) phase of their essays.
Format:
You will be given five minutes to present your most up-to-date findings and research related to
your Extended Essays before a panel of specialist judges (such as coordinators and experienced
supervisors), your peers and parents. Schools with large cohorts may wish to have multiple
sessions running, each with its own panel and allocation of students.
You will be required to inform the panel of the following:
1. Subject and research question
2. Background (what your EE is about, key issues addressed and so forth)
3. Research conducted thus far and planned research for the summer
(such as a summary of one to two chapters/sections)
4. Possible chapter headings (or a working outline of the final contents
page)
5. Problems encountered and solutions found (where applicable)
6. Bibliography (accurately referenced sources using an agreed upon style)
Requirements:
All students must have a visual presentation (such as PowerPoint or
Prezi) where the above points are visually represented. The panel will
be looking to see that all students have workable research questions,
a draft essay plan and a properly formulated bibliography.
Students are free to present a summation of the content of their
EEs in whichever manner they choose.
Students must bring along Form 4 (page 86) filled in with all relevant
details for submission to supervisors/panel.
Supervisors:
Supervisors are invited to attend the session(s) where they can also ask questions and listen into
their tutees’ presentations. This session can also count as a formal interview and an opportunity
to fill in Form 4 (see page 85).
Extended Essay Cafe checklist
Component Comments
Research question:
Does the question sound workable?
Is it narrow enough to be completed in 4,000
words?
Does it have a clear focus? Can it be
resourced?
Structure:
Usually good to see some chapter headings
that indicate organization of the essay into
sections.
Check to see if chapters are relevant and of a
reasonable number, as then each will be too
brief to be meaningful
Content:
The one chapter or aspect they elaborate on
should convince you they know something
about their topic or are able to develop a line
of argument.
Though background information can be
included it should not be the focus of the
entire presentation
Bibliography:
Alphabetical, spelling correct, capitals for
titles, publication date and location, author
and so forth are all correct.
If you know about the topic then add anything
about relevance or quality of sources
Plans:
Did they have a workable plan for the
summer?
What plans do you have to submit your first
draft on time?
Add anything to this if you feel the student’s
work to date is vague or nebulous.
Exemplar EE Cafe presentation
Below is an exemplar presentation completed for a history Extended Essay.
Thank you
Inas Fawzy
IBDP Coordinator
